Offsets so what is the point?

[Tiny]

Noble bretheren,
I ask the above after musing for some time. I was foolish enough to buy an cheap offset smoker and realise what a wretched waste of money that was.

I have seen threads on face the book this week that go along the line of "can anyone recommend an offset?" and the replies seem to indicate that "I know bob imported an jerbler from the states but he had to sell a kidney to afford it"

So this has set me thinkine, you want your smoker to be a predictable and rliable temperature full of smoke, if this is true then I can see no logical reason why you wouldn't want the heat source at the bottom, after all heat rises, and so the bullet or cabinet smoker seems the only logical choice.

I have also seen talk of offset reverse flow, this sounds faintly deviant an I don't think I approve at all, so can someone out there explain "why" you would want an offset, and particularly why you would import one that costs the same as a space shuttle.......genuinely interested,

Tiny

[Toby]

I think offsets are a complete waste of time, especially with our climate and the poor quality models that are available over here. I think it comes down to the romance of American style smoking and the look rather than the actual practical elements.

[jez2775]

Glad I'm wasting my time importing this then...

http://www.yodersmokers.com/wichita-loaded.html

[mike.read]

i am a great advocate of the offset, and yes i started with one of those £100 e bay specials, and yes it was cheap, but a learning tool nether the less.

since then i have built one from a 47 kg gas bottle for the chamber and a 13kg for the fire box. i will endeavor to post pics. A box of rods and a roll of gasket makes a great smoker. I utilized the frame, flue and a few other bits from my cheapy.

The whole project stand me less than a couple of hundred quid, and thats money well spent.

Next project is in hand, 900l air tank ready to go.......


All i can say is dont buy one, built one to your needs

[Tiny]

Jez,
You fall into the category of importing one the price of the space shuttle, interested to know what made you favour this over an upright kind.

Similarly mike you have built something that sounds most impressive but I get no sense of why you have gone offset over vertical......

I am not criticising anyone for their decision just trying to understand the thinking.

Cheers
Tiny
PS and of course jez no piece of bbq eqpt that big can be bad!

[jez2775]

Hi Tiny,

My decision to purchase an offset smoker was taken after a fairly extensive bbq tour of central Texas last year, and wanting to attempt to replicate the tastes and flavours that I experienced whilst there. As far as heat transfer goes, I see your point regarding heat rising in an upright, but ultimately heat and smoke travel towards an exit point, whether it be holes in the top of something like a WSM, or along the chamber of an offset to exit through a chimney. As long as you are competent maintaining a fire and draughting heat towards an exit I don't really see the issue. Additionally, the smoker I've ordered incorporates a heat management plate, helping to ensure (hopefully!) an even cook throughout the chamber with minimal temperature variance.

As far as price goes, granted importing from the US is more expensive than buying a cheap offset over here, but I didn't want a small, cheap and inefficient offset. I spent about 8 months researching the type of smoker I wanted, spoke to the few companies in the UK that produce them, and having found out the costs of having something built over here I decided to go down the importation route. As long as you can be patient enough to look at extended sea shipping, the shipping costs aren't as exhorbitant as you think, and the dollar rate is pretty good at present depending on where you go.

Hopefully this answers some questions!

[Toby]

Completely understand where you are coming from, your main challenge is going to be wood and quality of meat to replicate the flavour profile. I have a few customers now that had the offset for image, however it's was too much hassle to maintain a constant temp to produce consistent results so have opted for alternative commercial smokers. We are talking about offsets Over the 20k price point so not toys either

[jez2775]

I've got a steady flow of aged oak, and am using meat sourced from a family butchers with their own farm, so I'm getting good quality meat also. As far as maintaining temps go I'm looking forward to the challenge, although i have a fairly good grip on cooking with wood, so I'm not starting from zero so to speak. I work rotations offshore so have a reasonable amount of free time to devote to managing a fire over long time periods. I'll let you know how it goes!

[Toby]

Just a bit of advice, oak in the UK is completely different to the states. It is a lot harsher where as american oak is almost sweet so it needs to burn really efficiently or mix it with some fruit to tone it down

[jez2775]

Thanks Toby, I've been cooking with oak for a fair while now, mixed in with a couple of other woods.